AYABIE - ANSWER

[Daggi_X 2]

Before listening to the album, I was a little annoyed that they decided to put that many b-sides and previously released songs (they put the complete Kakusei Sprechchor single on there :/) on the album, but after listening to the actual album, all the songs flowed really really well and I guess their decision made sense, even though I would have preferred more new songs.

Now a couple of words about the individual songs:

1. prelude - LOVE the opening! Ryuusei is basically my favourite AYABIE song and this little instrumental version sounded amazing 8/10

2. RISE - The typical energetic album opener. The chorus is really catchy. 8/10

3. Reflector - They actually remade the whole song and the new vocals sound far more powerful than the single version's. A great song has become even greater! Loving it. 9/10

4. Kakusei Sprechchor - Great song, insanely catchy chorus. 9/10

5. Niji - Probably my least favourite song out of the new ones. The song itself was okay, but I felt it was lacking something... 5/10

6. LOVE SONG - Kinda sounded like some old-school anime opening, but not in a bad way. 8/10

7. Paradise Paradox - Typical Yumehito song and probably the spiritual successor of Cubic'[L/R]ock and Hi-Fi. Love it! 10/10

8. Merry-Go-Round - I liked the song ever since KY from Ayabie posted the demo on their myspace. 8/10

9. Koma - A cool rock song, but not really memorable (yet) 7/10

10. SICs - Pretty heavy song, almost DEATHBIE-like. Really cool! 8/10

11. HERO - My least favourite b-side... 5/10

12. Season - Sweet summery song. Not bad. 6/10

13. Ryuusei - Their best single by far. Beautiful arrangement! 10/10

Overall: 7,8 / 10

[sai 868]

I never really checked out the singles that AYABIE released after their major debut (sans Ryusei) so most of the songs on this album were still new to me. I had very high expectations since their first album was incredibly solid and set the bar very high for a follow-up album.

What I noticed is that the electronics are a bit more well-placed than they were on their first album. However, that was nothing that bothered me in VSC -2nd Season- so it doesn't really make a difference, it was just something I noticed along the way. I thought the intro that was like a short version of Ryusei with traditional instruments was very interesting, but I was actually hoping and expecting because of it that the next track would have some traditional moments in it. I was kind of disappointed that wasn't the case, but the track was catchy and energetic enough to keep my attention throughout the entire thing.

Reflector was a track I had heard before, but I have to say that I like the single track better. The reason I kept this one instead of the single version was that the rip of the single version I had was filled with static from beginning to end and was hardly listenable on a regular volume (SEE THIS AS A REQUEST). It packed a better punch and I preferred the heavier guitars on the original. However, this version is not bad or boring, just a bit less good. It's nothing I'd deduce points for though, the chorus is still very good and catchy.

Kakusei Sprechchor was a single apparently but I liked it nonetheless, very straightforward AYABIE stuff. I have to say that compared to VSC there is less diversity, that was actually a thing that made VSC so good. The rest of the album actually is similar to what I just described so there's no need to review the rest of these tracks individually. There were one or two fillers in there that didn't manage to hold my attention but overall it is a pretty fun pop-rock album that shows that AYABIE still has a lot of potential. Let's hope for some more experimentation again next time. I'd give the album a 7.8/10, just like Daggi.

[ShanethVarosa 1209]

I don't have the time right now to do a big, long track-by-track; but I will say this: I really loved the album. The thing about AYABIE and me is my fandom of them is incredibly shaky. They may, in my opinion, do a great song every so often. After Aoi left I really thought that was the end for the band, but then I heard Yumehito's voice on Virgin Snow Color -2nd Season- and was like... Okay, all isn't lost, BUT they need to do more than constant electro rock and ANSWER was the answer. (lol... punz)

When each single came out, again, there were high points and low points (SICs I have to say is my least favorite Ayabie song, maybe in general). And the fact that this album was legitimately 13 tracks and 5 new songs threw me for a loop, but the singles were decent. Merry-Go-Round, Kakusei Sprechchor, Reflector and Ryuusei were all good songs in and of themselves; but probably my favorite parts of the singles were Season and Hero. Also, I loved the prelude to the album... I liked it's traditional Japanese feel.

Then there was Koma, Love Song, and Niji. I liked them a lot, but they weren't my favorite.

What I simply cannot get enough of is Paradise Paradox and Rise. I totally and completely love them and agree with Daggi_x that it's basically the successor to Cubic[L/R]ock.

Overall, I'd say a 8.5 or 9/10 is in order for this.

[ficsci 50]

I think this album sounds like a non-stop house & trance-rock party. I find it overwhelming, but in a good, awed way... because it sounds so damn happy & catchy, all racing in fast tempo, and there's always so many things happening at the same time that my brain just can't process all of them unless I listen to them many, many more times, one by one. On the other hand, I suspect that another part of my overwhelmed feeling could be just unique to me, because I have a history of love/hate relationship with this band.

I have to say that I really love how they remade the songs that were already released in the singles. They sound so different (and so fitting with the sound of the album), and in my opinion, more enjoyable than the versions in the singles. I almost didn't recognize some of them. I don't care if for some they just added additional electronic bleeps or simply increased the tempo to manipulate your brain into thinking the songs are more fun or whatever, because they ARE funner.

Ok, now let me tell you what I think makes this album weird. It's a thing that applies to many of AYABIE's recent songs/composition style. They have really simple, catchy melodies (that if I listen to ONLY the melody, it would piss the shit out of me), but of course the rest of the parts make the songs really "rock out", especially when some of the songs go into key modulations/tonicizations, it sounds like the song just keeps "climbing" endlessly (e.g. "Ryuusei", so I see why they put it last, I still can't decide if it sounds more like a climax or a summary of what happened in the entire album...) . What I find interesting with AYABIE is they use the types of key modulations that are actually really common with pop songs, but they do it SO FAST and sometimes SO MUCH in just one song that it sounds really cool and weird. And I think, because all the songs in the album are fast-paced, coming in one after another, all full of electronic sparkles, and the melodies are pretty much in the same range, the whole album almost sounds like 1 never-ending catchy song with a shit ton of key modulations, or if not, variations of what sound to be the same song (but are actually different songs), that happen really fast one after another.

I still hadn't finished listening to this album when I was writing this review, and I was surprised I didn't realize I was already on track 9 (oh, now it's connected straight to track 10 with an insanely cool intro). But this made me feel like I was on a triple rainbow lollipop crack right now, and I'm afraid that when this album ends, I'm going to crash and get depressed because it's over and silent. Oh yea, I'm NOT on drugs, unless you count being tired as one.

Overall, I think this is an awesome album, but I DO NOT WANT to listen to the entire thing from beginning to end again anytime soon. But at the same time, I kind of doubt that it would sound as cool if you DON'T listen to the entire album. Regardless, the fact that it made me freak out kind of makes me want to give it more kudos.